new wrap-around season. “I’m glad I was able to do that.” No kidding. While Ernst was at the bottom of
the PGA Tour totem pole, what hap- pened next belongs in a Disney movie. Ernst wiggled into the Wells Fargo
Championship as the fourth alternate, outplayed the likes of Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Nick Watney down the stretch, birdied the final hole to force a playoff, and then beat David Lynn for a life-chang- ing first PGA Tour win. That win got Ernst into the Play- ers Championship, the PGA Cham- pionship, and this year’s Masters, and earned him PGA Tour status through the 2015 season. “You don’t realize how far you’ve
come until you look back,” Ernst said. “But I’ve already been a winner on the Tour. I have my card for two more years. “I don’t know. It’s crazy.” But the 2012 run that allowed
Ernst to play his way onto the PGA Tour won’t be possible anymore. New PGA Tour cards are now earned through finishing in the top 25 on the
Web.com Tour money list, or finishing in the top 25 of a four-event
Web.com Tour Finals money list in September. “They ruined all the stories,” said
Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, who was one of those great Q-School success stories in 2007. Players are eligible for the
Web.com Tour Finals by finishing in the top 75 on the
Web.com Tour money list, or Nos. 126-200 on the PGA Tour money list. In other words, there are no more
Derek Ernsts. But some guys, like 2013
Web.com Tour money list winner Michael Putnam, don’t mind. “If you’re a good player, you’re
going to make it through,” Putnam said. “Obviously you’re not going to have those stories at Q-School that go from no status—and shouldn’t really be playing on the PGA Tour—to playing on the PGA Tour. It’s a great system, and the best players are going to get through it.” Putnam also likes how recent
Web.com Tour graduates can jump
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Tony Pozas Tom Hughes 8 0 0 - 8 7 3 - 3 7 2 5
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right into the wrap around PGA Tour schedule. “I’m a huge fan,” Putnam said. “It
gives the guys who are playing well on the
Web.com a chance to keep playing. Before, you’d take a month break, and you were always wondering if you would get it back.” But Putnam says there’s a way for the Big Man on Campus col- lege golfer to reach the Big Leagues quicker than you think. “If you are a hot college golfer, you
can get five to seven sponsor’s exemp- tions on the PGA Tour,” Putnam said. “All you have to do is make about $130,000 in those seven events and you get into the
Web.com Finals, and you can do it. It’s not like there’s not ways to do it. I think everyone beats the point that there’s no access, but there still is.” Ernst is certainly thankful for the access he earned at the end of 2012.
Outside of his win at the Wells Fargo Championship, Ernst’s best finish was his first event—the 2012
Frys.com Open. Ernst made just seven of 21 cuts during the 2013 season. But Ernst is also taking advantage
of the two-year exemption his win earned him. “I have changed a lot,” Ernst said.
“I just got a new swing coach and agent. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s what I need to do to get to where I need to be. I see a lot of good things happening. I’ve got this year, and I’ve got next year. It’s a learning step. Pret- ty soon it will start coming together. “Someone told me after you win,
you’ve got two years. One year is a testing year, where you get to figure things out. The next year, you’ve got to play well. But I think it’s good that I made the change now.” – Kevin Merfeld
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S e r v i n g c l u b s ’ n e e d s s i n c e 1 9 8 7
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